Travels through Property Law by Tom Brodersen, Esq.
CAVEAT EMPTOR! It means “let the buyer beware.”
Many will tell you that is not the law any more where Florida residential real estate is concerned, because of the consumer protection laws that we have now, but I am here to tell you that is HOGWASH!
Real estate is the detail business. Every piece of property has a long history, and many, many potential issues. There is a lot of information to absorb with regard to any one property, and it takes your full attention and diligent effort to make sure you don’t end up making a huge mistake.
I am sorry to say that we keep seeing unwary buyers who end up in terrible jams because they failed to fully protect themselves.
It is true that Florida law gives buyers the benefit of various consumer protection laws, but, for one reason or another, they often fail to take full advantage of them.
For example, Florida’s condominium law gives buyers the right to rescind a contract to buy a (resale) condo for up to three days after they receive the complete condo documents package. Yet, in our experience, most buyers never actually receive the complete package! Very few people even know what all should be included. They may ask, but that doesn’t mean they ever get everything. And yet, they usually end up checking the box that acknowledges that they did.
Another example: sellers of residential property have a legal duty to disclose to buyers any latent (hidden) defects in the property of which the seller is aware. Yet we have seen many examples of enormous problems that the buyers never dreamed they were buying into, such as a high-rise condominium that was actually condemned due to construction defects, but not until months after closing, and after the buyer had spent huge sums remodeling.
The amazing thing is that the seller had received notices of board meetings to talk about the problem, as well as an engineering report going into depth about the great cost of correcting it, all before the seller ever listed the apartment for sale. Yet no mention of the issue was ever made to the buyer.
I’ve talked to a number of buyers who were told “we don’t use lawyers to do real estate deals here in Florida.” The larger truth is that no one makes you use a lawyer, but unless you do, you are trusting your
fate to luck.
Talk to a real estate lawyer before you sign any documents. And let him or her protect you.
ANDERSON & BRODERSEN, P.A.,
350 Corey Ave., St. Pete Beach, FL 33706
(727) 363-6100
www.PropertyLawGroup.com